Balanced attack leads WRHS over Doherty, 4-2

Lenior Sery (left) fights for possession in the season opener
Joyce Roberts photo HOLDEN – Co-captain Lenior Sery scored a goal and an assist, Chris Sampson recorded a pair of goals and an assist and Matt Dickmann banged home the gamewinner as the WRHS boys’ soccer team defeated Worcester’s Doherty High School 4-2 in its home and season-opener Friday.

The Highlanders got on the board at the 25:25 mark of the first half but Wachusett answered right back. Less than two minutes later, Sery took a feed from Sampson, deked the opposing keeper and fired point blank for the equalizer.

Getting that goal back so quickly was a positive momentum changer, according to Sery.

“It’s all about being positive,” he said. “I know we have a good team out there and can get it done but we got down early and I told the guys, ‘Look, we’ve been in this position before, we know how to handle it so let’s play the way we know how to play,’ and fortunately, we went ahead.”

In agreement was head coach Jason Gaumond.

“I feel that a team that gets up on us gets momentum going,” he said. “By us getting the equalizer, it really evened things out and I thought we picked up the tempo after that.”

The Mountaineers took command from there with a series of shots on net and deep penetration into Doherty territory. Forward Zihao Gao found the net after a pass from Carlos Campos (who later in the game took a nasty head-first spill on concrete attempting to corral an errant pass, but bounced right back) and the home team was on top for keeps with a 2-1 advantage at halftime.

Less than four minutes into the second half, Dickmann raced left side past a pair of Highlander defenders and found the top left corner on a blast home that proved to be the winner. Doherty made it close scoring on a penalty kick, but Sampson scored a somewhat controversial goal in the eyes of the Doherty crowd with 5:06 to go. The Highlander keeper and coaching staff questioned whether the ball crossed the line but the officials ruled that it had, giving Wachusett a cushion and a 4-2 lead.

Sery and Dickmann talked postgame about the importance of winning the season opener.

“Winning this game in front of our fans was very important. Friday night, under the lights, we had to get this win. It was very important to us,” said Sery.

Dickmann downplayed the importance of his goal and talked about the team aspect of play.

“It was great playing for my teammates and getting that goal was awesome,” he said. “We have great leadership out there with Lenny (Sery). It was a great first win.”

The Mountaineers look to stay on the winning track. Their next home contest is a matchup with Milford at 4 p.m. on Thursday. JV squad strong in opener

The WRHS JV boys team began its 2011 season with a strong opening win over Doherty, 3-0. Sophomore Ibe Diabate (Holden) had two goals, while freshman Ben Amaral (Holden) converted a PK in his first high school game. Sophomores Elliot Moore and Tom Malone shared the shutout in goalkeeping duties. Freshmen Peter Spark (Princeton) and Michael Baker (Holden) and sophomore AJ Brewer (Holden) had very strong games on defense.